


Fleeting Moments

by Settiai



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Community: femslashex, Drunken Kissing, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Pre-Stream (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-07-27 07:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16214012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Glimpses of a slowly shifting relationship.





	Fleeting Moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [navaan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/gifts).



The first thought to pop into Kima's mind when she saw the newest member of their motley group of assholes was "you have to be kidding me." Admittedly, those were also the first words out of her mouth, but she'd never claimed to have much of a filter when it came to things like that.

The woman that Ghenn had introduced as Allura raised her eyebrows slightly, her surprisingly piercing gaze darting over to focus on Kima. "Excuse me?"

Kima looked at the woman critically, trying to see if there was more to her than met the eye. She hoped so, because she sure couldn't see it. With her long blonde hair flowing loose instead of pulled back in a sensible braid or ponytail, her expensive-looking blue robes, and that pale skin that looked like she hadn't spent any time in the sun in her life, the woman looked like a stiff breeze could knock her over.

Hells, it might not even take that much. A light breeze could probably do it, simply based on her appearance.

"Are you sure about this?" Kima asked Ghenn, purposefully ignoring Allura. "She's going to be dead in a week. You know that, right?"

Ghenn's mouth twitched, like they were trying to hide a smile, but they didn't argue one way or the other. All they did was shrug. "I think you might be surprised."

Kima snorted. "I doubt it."

"I'm standing right here," Allura said, sounding completely put out.

At that, Ghenn didn't even try to hide their grin. "You'll have to forgive Kima," they said. "She's not exactly a people person."

Shooting Ghenn both a dirty look and a hand gesture that said more than words ever could, Kima glanced back over at the human. She was still standing off to the side, the expression on her face a mixture of confusion and irritation. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest as she stared directly at Kima, like she was trying to figure her out.

She was welcome to try. Some of the others had known Kima for almost a year and still didn't have any idea who she was. She doubted this Allura woman would have any better luck at it than they had.

"Careful," Kima said, nodding towards Allura's crossed arms. "You don't want to wrinkle your nice robes."

Allura glared at her, her arms dropping back down to her sides. "Why you—" Her voice trailed off into angry sputtering.

Off to the side, Ghenn started to quietly laugh. Kima swore that sometimes that damn dwarf purposefully did things like this for the sole purpose of riling her up.

Ignoring both of them, Kima turned and stomped away. The human was clearly a magic user of some type, what with those shiny robes of hers, so Kima knew better than to complain to Drake. He'd probably be thrilled at the idea of having someone else to talk about all that arcane shit with. But Dohla and Sirus, they both had good heads on their shoulders. Maybe they'd be able to talk some sense into Ghenn.

Bah. The group was good enough as it was. They didn't need some prissy human joining them, no matter what Ghenn seemed to think. Especially not one who was totally going to get herself killed within a few days.

*

The more Kima got to know Allura, the less she liked her.

Oh, she'd be the first to admit that she'd probably misjudged the woman at least a little. She was much handier in a fight than Kima had thought she'd be, and – while she definitely wasn't used to life on the road – she was adjusting fairly well for the most part. And the gold in that coin purse of hers had definitely made the group's life a bit easier, what with her fronting the cost of them staying under a roof when the group funds were dwindling.

That didn't change the fact that Allura was a spoiled know-it-all who was probably going to get tired of the whole adventuring lifestyle sooner rather than later. Kima and Sirus had a bet going as to how long it was going to take her to drop them, and she knew that Dohla thought the same thing as them even if she wouldn't join in with the betting.

Ghenn seemed to like her, of course, but Ghenn had been the one to introduce her to the group in the first place so they probably felt a little responsible for her. As for Drake, well, none of them was foolish enough to trust his opinion on anything. At least, not since that incident with the basilisks a few months back.

"Why are you glaring at me this time?"

Kima blinked a few times at the sudden question. She narrowed her eyes, focusing her attention on Allura. The human was sitting across from her, on the other side of the fire, absent-mindedly playing with a small gem that she probably used for a spell or something. She was watching Kima with an almost curious look on her face.

It was the same look that she wore when she was trying to figure out a particularly complicated puzzle. Kima wasn't quite certain how she felt about being considered a fucking problem to be solved.

"Do I need a reason?" Kima shot back.

There was a loud sigh somewhere behind Kima, near where the bedrolls had been set up. "Kima," Dohla called out. "Do you remember that conversation we had about tact?"

Kima rolled her eyes and pointedly ignored that comment. Just because she'd listened to Dohla's latest lecture didn't mean that she planned on paying any attention to it, and if the elf thought otherwise then she really didn't know Kima as well as she thought.

Allura quirked her eyebrows. "A conversation about tact?" she repeated. "That must have been either a very short or very long conversation, depending on whether it was about what you know or don't know on the subject."

Ghenn snorted but didn't otherwise react. Their attention seemed to be mostly focused on emptying whatever hellish liquor was in their flask this week. Sirus, however, looked like he was about to break a rib trying not to laugh.

Drake was too busy reading whatever was in the book in his lap to even notice there was a conversation happening.

Kima just narrowed her eyes at Allura. "Watch it, blondie."

Allura smiled at her, pointedly showing her teeth as she did so. "Oh, don't worry," she said sweetly, and it was actually a bit impressive that she could make something sound both so innocent and yet threatening at the same time. Not that Kima would ever admit that to her. "I'm always watching you, Kima."

*

Kima didn't even notice the rogue sneaking up behind her until it was too late.

She cursed as the other halfling managed to slip their dagger through one of the few weak points in her armor, its point digging deep into her skin. It burned, more than a regular stab wound should have, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that there'd been something a little extra on the blade. Poison, probably, knowing her luck.

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath. She spun around, aiming her sword at the rogue's neck, and made certain that they ended up a fair bit shorter than they had been a moment before.

Then her sword slipped from her suddenly slack grip.

Kima gasped, blinking several times as her vision wavered in and out. Darkness was moving in quickly at the edges of it, and she didn't think she had much time before she joined the ill-fortuned rogue on the ground. She needed healing and fast, and she was pretty sure that she was spent. She didn't have much magic herself on a good day, and she'd used the little bit that she did have getting Dohla back on her feet earlier in the fight.

"Behind you!"

At the sound of Allura's voice coming from somewhere to her right, Kima tried to spin around. She hit her knees as she did, her eyes going wide as she saw the blurry form of a half-orc looming over her. She cursed, trying to get her unresponsive limbs to cooperate enough to grab her sword again.

Then the half-orc exploded in a loud mixture of flames and screams.

Time went a bit odd for a moment there. Kima didn't exactly pass out, but she'd be the first to admit that she wasn't quite as conscious as she would have liked either. The next thing she was truly aware of was the sensation of her back being flat against the ground. Allura was kneeling beside her, a worried look on her face as she tried to get a good look at the stab wound on her side.

"I'm fine," Kima said, batting Allura's hand away. Or, at least, that's what she tried to say and do. Her mouth didn't quite want to form words, and her hands felt a lot heavier than she was used to.

Kima frowned.

Allura let out a very emphatic curse, her eyes going wide. Kima wasn't exactly sure what she'd said, since it wasn't in the common tongue, but she knew cursing when she heard it.

"That bad, huh?" she asked, trying to speak again. Her tongue tripped over the words, but they were at least somewhat audible this time.

Allura ignored her, instead glancing over her shoulder. "Ghenn!" she yelled. "Kima needs you over here now!"

Kima was tempted to make another smartass comment. Considering Allura was yelling for the cleric and looking at her with a slightly panicked expression on her face, though, she suspected that it might be better to keep her mouth closed for once. Especially since her side really was starting to burn.

Frilly magic user or not, Allura seemed to have the situation under control. Kima decided that it wouldn't hurt to close her eyes for just a moment or two.

*

"In my defense, it was his fault," Kima said, putting on her brightest smile. She might not be the most charming person in the world, but she knew how to fake it when needed. And judging by the just-shy-of-homicidal look on Dohla's face just then, she suspected this was one of those times.

Sirus glanced at her. "Hey!" he protested. "What happened to you having my back?"

On the other side of the bars, Dohla brought her hand up to cover her face. "I suspect," she said, shaking her head, "that Kima stopped having your back the moment that the two of you ended up in prison."

Beside her, Allura looked much too amused by the entire situation for Kima's tastes. "I know that I'm still fairly new," she said to Dohla, "but is this a common occurrence?"

Dohla brought her hand down, and there was no missing the amusement on her face now. "Sirus ending up in jail? Yes. Kima? Not as much."

"I resent that remark," Sirus grumbled.

Kima elbowed him in the side, grinning a bit when he let out a groan of pain at the impact. "You mean you resemble that remark."

Sirus rolled his eyes dramatically. "I see how it is," he said. "A guy gets arrested one or two dozen times, and—"

This time, Kima didn't pull her punch when she elbowed him. Sirus stopped talking immediately, his eyes going wide as he tried to remember how to breathe.

Dohla looked like she wasn't certain whether to laugh or sigh. Allura was simply watching the whole situation in blatant amusement.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Dohla asked reluctantly. "Or is this one of those times where I'll be better off just paying the fines and not asking any questions?"

"You don't want to know," Kima said sharply.

It overlapped with Sirus's reply of: "It wasn't _really_ our fault that the brothel caught on fire."

Kima turned to glare at Sirus, who was watching her with a too-innocent look on his face. He hurriedly ducked out of the way as she skipped trying to elbow him again and went straight to attempting to punch him in the gut.

"Kima, it's not worth it," Dohla said tiredly.

Reluctantly letting Sirus move to the other side of the cell unharmed, KIma glanced back at the corridor outside the cell. Dohla's face was covered by her hand again. The earlier amusement on Allura's face had disappeared, replaced by an unreadable expression, her gaze darting towards Kima for a quick moment before hurriedly moving elsewhere.

Dohla uncovered her face. She opened her mouth, and then she closed it with a sigh. "Come on, Allura," she said, reaching over to take the human woman by the arm. "Let's go pay to get these two out of here. I, for one, don't want to hear any more details."

Allura didn't even glance back as Dohla pulled her away.

*

Camping was Kima's least favorite part of adventuring.

She sighed as she stared up at the makeshift tent that she had rigged up above her. It was a thick piece of cloth that she had draped over some tree limbs, tying it down with some rope to be safe. The weather was still mild, just edging into autumn, but they were going to have to break down and spend the gold on some actual replacement tents sooner rather than later.

Kima still wasn't entirely certain how Drake had managed to set an entire pile of supplies on fire, but she knew that she at least hadn't forgiven him for it. She preferred a room in an inn over a tent, but she'd still rather have a tent over nothing.

With a sigh, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She'd been trying to get to sleep for the last hour or so with no luck. She wasn't exactly the most perceptive person, especially at night, but if she couldn't sleep then she could at least help keep watch.

She stretched a bit before standing up and heading towards the fire. It had died down quite a bit in the hour or so since she'd turned in for the night, but it was still giving enough light to see with.

Allura glanced over at her, looking up from the book she'd been studying. "You couldn't sleep?"

"Good guess," Kima said, walking over to the fire and dropping down on the ground a few feet away from Allura. "Anything to worry about so far?"

Allura shot her a quicksilver grin. "I'm fairly certain that Ghenn's snoring is scaring away any potential trouble."

Kima couldn't help but chuckle at that. As much as the dwarf might claim otherwise, it wasn't exactly a secret that they snored loud enough to wake the dead. There had been more than one occasion when Dohla had cast some type of silencing spell around them at night if she had enough magic to spare. Her magic was about as limited as Kima's, though, so it wasn't something she could do regularly no matter how much the group as a whole might wish otherwise.

Shaking her head, Kima pulled out one of the daggers she wore as an emergency backup and started cleaning it. She didn't use them much, but she'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them. She was pragmatic that way.

It took longer than it should have for her to realize she was being watched.

Kima glanced over at Allura, raising her eyebrows when she saw that the human was watching her curiously. "What?"

Allura blushed. "Sorry," she said. "I just didn't realize you kept a dagger on you. I've never seen you use it."

"I have two of them," Kima replied with a shrug. "Better safe than sorry and all that."

Still blushing, Allura nodded at her. "I know what you mean," she said. Then, to Kima's surprise, she reached down and grabbed the bottom of her robe, pulling it higher up her leg.

It was Kima's turn to flush, although she hoped the shadows and her darker skin tone kept Allura from noticing. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

"See?" Allura said, gesturing at her leg.

Kima blinked a few times before leaning in to take a closer look. Then she felt her eyebrows lift a bit higher. Allura had a piece of leather wrapped around her thigh, clearly holding a dagger against her skin.

"Huh," Kima said thoughtfully, glancing between the dagger and Allura's face a few times. "I have to admit, you don't seem like the dagger type."

Allura gave her a half-hearted shrug before letting her robe drop back down. "It's like you said," she replied. "Better safe than sorry."

She smiled at Kima before turning her attention back to the book in her lap.

Kima just sat there staring for a moment or two before reluctantly turning her attention back to her own weapon. Well. It looked like Allura was full of surprises.

*

Allura went down, and Kima felt a wave of panic rush through her.

It surprised her a bit just how worried she was to see Allura hit the ground. As much as Kima had expected it back when the woman first joined them, with every fight that they made it through without Allura even breaking a sweat, it had slipped more and more from the forefront of her mind. Despite appearances, she'd started seeming almost invulnerable.

Kima really should have known better. Allura was still only human.

"Allura's down!" Kima yelled out.

Loud cursing from a good forty feet away signaled where Dohla was currently holed up, her bow out as she whittled down the... whatever the thing was that they were fighting. Kima didn't have a clue personally, other than "big" and "dangerous."

"Can you get to her?" Dohla called out. "I'm out of magic, and I gave my last healing potion to our idiot of a rogue."

Considering Sirus was currently dangling from the back of the creature, his daggers hilt-deep in its skin and his grip deathly tight on them as the thing tried to send him flying, Kima supposed he probably needed a healing potion. Still. That didn't make her any happier about having to play nursemaid. That was supposed to be Ghenn's job, or maybe Dohla's in a pinch.

"On it!" Kima called out reluctantly. Then, keeping one eye on the creature in case it decided that it was tired of playing with Sirus, she sprinted in Allura's direction.

She wasn't particularly fast, nor was she quiet. Nothing threw itself at her as she ran, though, so she counted it as a win.

Kima hit the ground beside Allura with a metallic clang, her gaze quickly moving over her. Allura's face was so pale that it was almost white, and her lips had a greyish tinge to them that Kima very much didn't like the look of. There was a growing pool of blood under her, all but pouring from the wound in her side where that creature had caught her with its claws.

All in all, it looked pretty damn bad.

With a few muttered curses of her own, Kima brought her hands to rest on Allura's side. She closed her eyes, focusing on Bahamut, and _pushed_. A brilliant light burst out from her hands.

Kima didn't have a whole lot of magic, and she rarely used it. When push came to shove, though, she could heal enough to get someone back on their feet.

Allura's eyes shot open, her body jerking halfway up into a sitting position before she collapsed back down against the ground.

"Are you alive?" Kima asked, pulling her hands away. The light was already fading from them, and she was pretty sure she'd done all that she could do, healing-wise.

There was a pause before Allura nodded. It was weaker than Kima would have liked, but it was something. "I think so?"

There was a loud yell behind them, followed by a thud. Kima glanced over her shoulder and grimaced. The creature had finally managed to dislodge Sirus and sent him flying into a nearby tree.

"Good," Kima said, holding out her hand. "Let's get behind cover so we can keep you that way."

Allura hesitated for just a moment before taking Kima's hand and letting her help pull her to her feet.

*

"I'm going to fucking kill Sirus if we make it out of here," Kima grumbled under her breath.

Beside her, Allura let out a quiet laugh. It didn't particularly sound very happy. "Not if I get my hands on him first," she said coolly.

"Less talking, more figuring out how to get out of here!" Drake called out from somewhere behind them. Kima couldn't see him, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If she couldn't see him, then the odds were that the adult dragon they were fighting couldn't either.

A dragon. A fucking white dragon. This was the last time that Sirus got to pick a job for them to take, if he wasn't going to find out even the most basic information about what they were up against first.

Kima glanced over at Allura. Her face was pinched, and she looked even paler than usual, which was saying something. "Any sign of Dohla?" Kima asked quietly.

Allura's gaze flickered in her direction for just a second before she shook her head. "No," she said, "but I haven't seen Ghenn either, and they were heading in her direction the last I saw."

"Leave rescuing her up to the dwarf and hope for the best," Kima said wryly. "Got it."

Just like she'd been hoping, that was enough to pull out a quiet laugh from Allura. The amusement didn't quite reach her eyes, but Kima would take what she could get considering the circumstances.

After a moment, Allura sighed. "I have a terrible idea," she said. "You'll probably love it."

Kima raised her eyebrows.

"How much damage do you think you could do in a minute?" Allura asked.

"A lot," Kima answered immediately. "The hard part would be getting close enough to hit it. It doesn't like staying in one place if you haven't noticed."

The corner of Allura's mouth turned upward. She still looked worried, but there was a hint of something else there too that Kima couldn't quite interpret. "What if you were invisible?" she asked. "Would that help?"

Kima opened her mouth. Then she closed it. "I love you," she said fervently.

Allura froze in place for a moment before rolling her eyes with a bit more exaggeration than was probably required. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Allura said, the words sounding almost fond. "Get ready then."

Kima tightened her grip on her weapon, shooting Allura a big grin. "Oh, I'm _always_ ready to kick ass."

Allura gave her a weak smile of her own. "Try not to get yourself killed, please."

*

Kima woke up to the smell of smoke and the bitter taste of a healing potion on her lips.

She immediately went into a coughing fit, and the world went grey for a moment as moving sent a wave of pain through her entire body. She wasn't entirely certain how much time passed, but she came back to awareness with the sound of Allura's voice filling the void around her.

"—damn it, please don't pass out again. I don't have any more healing potions on me, and I have no idea how long it's going to take for the others to get through that rubble."

"What happened?" The words were slurred so much that Kima could barely understand them, and she was the one asking the question. It was enough to get Allura to shut up, at least, which Kima counted as at least a small blessing.

Allura's face appeared in her vision, hovering over her. One of the tight braids that she'd started wearing her hair in was dangling down and brushing against the side of Kima's face. Everything was a bit blurry, but Kima would take what she could get. "Kima?"

Kima started to raise her eyebrows, but she quickly aborted that motion as her head started to swim. Whatever had happened, she very much wasn't in the position to do much of anything just then.

She closed her eyes, forcing her muddled mind to focus as best she could. Then she brought her hand up to rest on her chest and focused, trying to find the healing magic that she knew she should be able to call on even if she didn't use it all that much.

"Kima, can you hear me?" Allura's voice sounded worried again. It wasn't a tone that Kima was particularly used to hearing, at least not aimed at her.

"Give me a second," Kima said tiredly, her tongue tripping slightly over the words. "I'm trying something."

Allura went quiet.

After another moment or two, Kima felt a warmth spread out from where her hand was resting on her chest. Her eyes shot open, just in time for her to see a bright light fading away. She still didn't feel particularly great, but the worst of the pain had faded away. While she still felt like she had been through the ringer, she didn't feel like she was on death's door any longer.

"Kima?"

"I'm okay," Kima said, hesitantly taking in a shallow breath. When it didn't cause a wave of pain, she tried taking a deeper one. And then an even deeper one. Her chest still ached, but it was much better than before.

Kima brought her hands down so that she could push herself up into a sitting position. She swayed a bit as she sat up, but a hand appeared on her shoulder and steadied her. "Thanks," she said uncomfortably.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Allura said. Her voice was quieter than usual, and there was a tremble in it that Kima wasn't used to hearing. "I thought—well, I wasn't certain the healing potion that I gave you was going to be enough." There was a long pause. "I didn't know what to do."

Kima shifted awkwardly. "Yeah, well, I'm fine," she said, reaching up to pay Allura's hand. She couldn't help but notice that it was still resting on her shoulder. "We're both fine."

There was no mistaking the utter relief on Allura's face just then. Kima... wasn't quite certain how to feel about that, honestly.

*

Allura was _hammered_.

Kima wasn't particularly sober herself, but she at least was used to drinking. Allura usually didn't imbibe in more than a single glass of wine, if that, and it was very much showing. Then again, they usually didn't have celebrations in their honor. Considering their glasses kept being refilled instantly the moment they were emptied, even Drake was starting to show some signs of how much he'd had to drink, which almost never happened.

They should save small villages from orcs more often. Kima, at least, could get used to being treated like some kind of hero.

Allura dropped down in a seat next to Kima, her face flushed as she all but draped herself over Kima's shoulders. "Hello."

"Hello, yourself," Kima said, amused. "Having fun?"

Allura nodded at her with the careful, exaggerated movements of someone who was extremely drunk. Then she shifted her hand to play with a few strands of Kima's hair that had slipped loose from her braid at some point during the night.

Kima narrowed her eyes. "Just how drunk are you?" she asked curiously. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to see if Allura realized just how bad off she was.

Allura shot her a lopsided grin that shouldn't have been nearly as adorable as it was. "Just a little," she said, holding up her hand and clearly trying to gesture with her fingers. It... failed quite spectacularly, but Allura seemed to be too far gone to notice.

Kima didn't even try to hide her grin.

"You're laughing," Allura said, narrow her eyes. She leaned closer to Kima, looking closely at her face. "Why are you laughing at me?"

At that, Kima actually did start laughing. She tried to hold it back, she really did, but she couldn't stop herself.

Allura pouted. "Kima," she said, leaning down to rest her head on top of Kima's. "Stop laughing at me."

There was something in her voice that Kima couldn't quite interpret, but whatever it was made the situation suddenly seem a lot less amusing. Her smile faded.

"We're going to have to work on your alcohol tolerance," Kima said lightly. "A little practice, and you'll be able to drink everyone here under the table."

Allura let out a thoroughly unladylike snort. Kima wasn't certain she'd ever heard a sound like that come from her, not in the half a year or so since Allura had joined them.

"What?" Kima asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Nothing," Allura said, putting more of her weight against Kima as she leaned against her. Considering the height difference between them, it was starting to become more than a little awkward.

It was Kima's time to snort. "Bullshit."

There was a pause, and then Allura sat up straighter. She was still wavering a bit, but she wasn't actually leaning against Kima any more, at least.

Allura looked down at Kima, swaying slightly as she stared at her with an unreadable look on her face.

Kima raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked.

Without a word, Allura leaned down and pressed a kiss against Kima's lips. It was quick and sloppy, but there was clearly _something_ behind it even if Kima wasn't entirely certain what that something was.

"That," Allura said with a nod.

Then, before Kima had a chance to say anything, Allura pushed herself to her feet and stumbled away.

Kima stared after her. Then she reached up and touched her lips. Even though she knew it was entirely her imagination, they felt like they were burning.

Oh. _Oh._ That was... well, that was unexpected.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)


End file.
